Very cool compilation that features rare French recordings made by the lovely actress featured in the film Black Orpheus. The first batch of tracks have a lively loud raw quality, similar to the stuff on the original soundtrack – and titles of these include "Carnaval Samba", "Samba D'Orphee", and "Adieu Tristesse". Other tracks have more of a French pop feel, with titles like "La Fille De La Montagne", "C'est Lui Ma Vie", and "Va-t En Vit Mon Amour". Very nice stuff overall, and some extremely rare recordings served up in a lovely package! CD

An amazing little record – a 70s session that we'd easily rank right up there with the best recordings ever from Joyce, but one that's only being issued here for the first time ever! The sound is brilliant – that beautiful mix of strong and sweet that you'll always find when Joyce is at her best – and the set features equally wonderful contributions from Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, and Mauricio Maestro on bass, vocals, and guitar! All sounds are acoustic, but have this otherworldly feel – that buoyant, sparkling sort of quality on Joyce classics like Feminina or Agua E Luz – the there's a driving sense of rhythm that really moves the whole album – taking it far past what you might expect from the spare instrumentation. Tremendous stuff throughout, and a musical discovery that has us falling in love with the music of Joyce all over again! Titles include "Clareana", "Metralhadeira", "Nacional Kid", "Tudo Bonito", "Memorias Do Porvir", "Visoes Do Amanhecer", "Chegada", and "Banana". CD

An amazing little record – a 70s session that we'd easily rank right up there with the best recordings ever from Joyce, but one that's only being issued here for the first time ever! The sound is brilliant – that beautiful mix of strong and sweet that you'll always find when Joyce is at her best – and the set features equally wonderful contributions from Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, and Mauricio Maestro on bass, vocals, and guitar! All sounds are acoustic, but have this otherworldly feel – that buoyant, sparkling sort of quality on Joyce classics like Feminina or Agua E Luz – the there's a driving sense of rhythm that really moves the whole album – taking it far past what you might expect from the spare instrumentation. Tremendous stuff throughout, and a musical discovery that has us falling in love with the music of Joyce all over again! Titles include "Clareana", "Metralhadeira", "Nacional Kid", "Tudo Bonito", "Memorias Do Porvir", "Visoes Do Amanhecer", "Chegada", and "Banana". LP, Vinyl record album

Brazilian fusion from Denmark – a really wonderful set from this cool Scandinavian combo! The record feels a fair bit like some of the Brazilian jazz coming out of the west coast of the US during the 70s – soaring, soulful, and put together with a breezy brilliance that almost takes off into hipper new directions than work coming out from Brazil at the time. And like most of that other work, this album's a hip mix of acoustic and electric jazz elements – great keyboards folded in alongside tenor sax, bass, and percussion – and topped with vocals on a few cuts too! There's a nicely free sense to the rhythms – but one that's never too open-ended – and for comparison's sake, the material also feels a bit like some of the best grooves on the early volumes of the Glucklich series on Compost. Titles include "Black Wing", "The Girl With Three Faces", "Would You", "When I Close My Eyes", "7:47 To Rio", and "From Dusk Towards Dawn". (Jazz, Brazil) LP, Vinyl record album

A contemporary set, but one that's unlike any other recent Brazilian recording we can think of – given the very unique vibe that Mauricio Maestro is going for! You might know Mauricio from his mid 70s work with Joyce on Visions Of Dawn – and although this set is a recent recording, it has a same sort of classic feel overall. The sound here has deep rhythms and folksy touches – a warm acoustic mode, but topped with some slight electricity and larger arrangements – a bit like some of the more creative sounds in the Brazilian underground during the post-Tropicalia years – yet with a richness that takes it much farther too! Maestro handled the arrangements, and he brings in a jazz-tinged quality that's not unlike the Milton Nascimento generation – yet the overall approach is earthier too, and vocals are handled by Mauricio, percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, and Kay Lyra – swirled up with a bit of light string backings that really help the record soar to the skies! We'd rank this one right up there with classics from the 70s by Joyce or Edu Lobo – but we also recognize that it's very much it's own record too. Titles include "Jungle Bells", "Agua Clara", "Canto Do Paje", "Todos Os Santos", "Ciclo Da Vida", "Ouvindo Estrelas", "Upside Down", and "Horizonte". CD